Sanding Ovations 2012 - Part 1

Making our second appearance at this competition/party the annual Sanding Ovations sand sculpture at the Bil-Mar was pretty awesome.  They get renowned sculptors to compete against each other on the beach, throw in some beer, vendors and have a party for 4 days in Treasure Island.   

Parking and traffic is problematic (we cheated and parked at the back of a Waffle House) and can cost $10 if you park up close and on the beach.  But once there, if you can navigate the crowds, the artwork themselves is pretty spectacular.  

The opening piece is a standard appreciation to the sponsors.  

The sponsor artwork was getting finished by this lady on Saturday, just before judging. I don't know if something caved in or she is just fine tuning the thing, but there she was working on hard on the seal.  

Exhibit #1

Apparently this is the winner of the event.  I believe the cash prize is $3000 and then your work is destroyed.  Seems crazy but I guess you take pictures,  and keep the memories.  Imagine the travel, the planning, the creation only to have it leveled after a couple days.  Insane.  This work depicts a bulldozer toppling the Amazonian forest.

Entitled "Amazon Clearance"

Exhibit #2

Entitled "Time"

Can't say I was overly thrilled with this one.  It was basically a sundial with minimalist detail.  Kind of ho-hum compared to others.  People seemed to like it however, as there were crowds around it.  Maybe they just wanted to synchronize their watches.

Update: Turns out this sculpture was an actual working sundial, and because the first two days of creating it were cloudy the artist was unable to get a correct reading of the sun and stars.  He chose to score low with the judges so he could finish it correctly.  It was synchronized with the equinox on the 21st and told not only the time but the date as well.  

Exhibit #3

I failed to remember what the title of this one was.  Actually, I though this was OK, but lacked the ooomph of the ones I really liked which will be featured tomorrow.  This was a hill of sand with various designs on it.  I circled it so you'd get a vision of the thing,  nice but not breath taking. 

Exhibit #4

Again, I failed to get the title, but it is two hands stretching fabric/time/whatever.  

It was nice and all, but again, lacked the imagination and ingenuity of the ones I really liked.  

Exhibit #5

This was a pretty impressive piece of work that was popular with the folks and I liked it too.  It was intricate and said something, the latter which is my main criteria.  Big, tall, imposing with something for everyone, I liked this one pretty well.  But walk behind her and...

...you'll discover an alter ego hiding in her head/hair.

Exhibit #6

Never really found out what this was all about and that probably helped me score this real low on my list.  Some sort of tussle going on with spider like appendages.  No offense tot he artist, but this one just seemed to lack the ingenuity and beauty of my favorites.  

Tomorrow I will show you my winners and the artwork I thought should have won.  Obviously no one has ever asked me to judge art so this is just a layman's study, but I think my two favorites were pretty dynamic.   Report back here tomorrow to see them.  Until then....Dismissed.